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“With Independence Day right around the corner…”

With July 4 right around the corner, people like to celebrate our independence in style. People go to the nearest retailer and buy a big load of fireworks. While these fireworks can produce hours of explosive entertainment (literally!), it can also result in people having fireworks explode into or on the wrong things, causing property damage and serious injuries. And no one likes their celebrations to be spoiled by a burning roof or a severed digit. Now I’m certainly not out to put a damper on your Independence Day celebrations by talking about safety. By no means is that the goal of this quote. I just want you to enjoy your Fourth of July safely. I fully intend to partake in my own celebration of our independence, and set off fireworks as well. But I will be minding my safety, watching where I point these things, keeping tabs on who is where when I set the things off, and having a big bucket of water nearby to douse the things when they’ve burned out, as well as to douse the duds. That’s called having your fun, and surviving it, too. Since we want people and property to come out unscathed. That’s important. We don’t want anyone going to the emergency room because something blew up in someone’s face. That would be really unpleasant. And we also don’t want anyone to lose their home or anything else due to a firework-related accident. That would also be really unpleasant, to say the least. I’m also not in favor of banning fireworks, because there are people who are determined enough to get fireworks, and they will get their hands on them, banned or not. I encourage people to have all the fun in the world with their fireworks, but just to do it safely.

Date posted: July 3, 2004

Notes: The original image for this quote article was replaced with a similar free-content image when it was converted and restored in November 2011 as part of the conversion to WordPress. Attribution: Jon Sullivan.